Description
1. How has penal punishment transformed over time in the EU & US? Describe the transition of punishment as applied towards the body. Does the removal of the public spectacle of torture indicate a more humane/civilized Society? Why or why not? Explain what ideas and moments have contributed to the development of the first prison in the US. How did prison become the universal form of punishment? Use at least 2 readings.
2. List at least three factors that influence ideas of crime and criminality? How does class, race, gender and ethnicity impact interpretations on crime waves? What is the relationship between social, political and economic cyclical crises to incarceration trends? What factors have impacted mass incarceration today? Use specific examples to support claims.
3. What is scientific racism? How did scientific research, racial ideologies, economic conditions, and data collection impact the study of crime historically? What ideas of criminality are structural (consistent) in criminology? What is the role of biometrics and craniometry of ideas of deviance? Are crime statistics still relevant today? Why or why not?